Whatever the means, Football Bowl Subdivision schools continue to find creative ways to give coaches perks in their contracts. Here are some of the most unique features in coaches' deals, as obtained and reviewed by USA TODAY Sports.

With future Whittinghams in mind

An April amendment to Utah coach Kyle Whittingham’s contract not only provides that his children will receive free undergraduate tuition at the university, it also states that his grandchildren and great grandchildren will receive 50% off in-state tuition during Whittingham’s lifetime, as long as they are younger than 26 and unmarried. (Both of the tuition benefits are voided if Whittingham is fired for cause or accepts another coaching job.) Whittingham, 57, has four children ranging in age from 19 to 32 and three grandchildren, all 19 months old or younger.

A recruiting bump for Brohm

Do stars and recruiting rankings really matter? Well to Purdue coach Jeff Brohm, they do. If any of his incoming recruiting classes are ranked among the top 25 according to 247 Sports, ESPN or Rivals within 10 days of national signing day, Brohm will receive $45,000. (His 2018 recruiting class, for what it’s worth, was ranked No. 51 by 247 Sports, No. 43 by Rivals and outside ESPN’s top 40 as of late last week.)

Dollars and a dream

Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford will make just $1.55 million in total compensation this year, but there is a dream scenario in which he could make an additional $2.35 million in individual bonuses. Tedford could receive $400,000 for winning 11 games, $300,000 if the Bulldogs draw a paid attendance of 152,000 or more and $1 million if he leads them to a national championship. He’s also eligible to receive up to $415,000 in academic bonuses, which must be split with the rest of his staff, and $350,000 — nearly a quarter of his annual compensation — if he’s still Fresno State’s coach on Nov. 30, 2021.

The price of individual accolades

Most, if not all, coaches receive a bonus for winning a coach of the year award, but a few benefit from individual awards won by their players, too. San Diego State coach Rocky Long, for example, is eligible to receive $10,000 if any of his players is named a first-team All-American or wins the Heisman Trophy. A Heisman winner nets Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury a $250,000 bonus. And at Western Michigan, coach Tim Lester can receive a bonus for seemingly any individual award, including $2,000 for a first-team all-conference selection and $750 for an academic all-conference nod (with a maximum of five players in each category).

Fickell thinking Final Four

First-year coach Luke Fickell’s contract at Cincinnati includes a clause granting him four complimentary tickets to any Final Four game in which the Bearcats men's basketball team plays, with an option to purchase an additional 10 tickets if needed. Cincinnati has not reached the Final Four since 1992.

Six-figure wins

A few coaches have six-figure incentives for individual wins, once they reach a certain bench mark. Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, for example, is eligible to receive $250,000 for his seventh win and every victory thereafter. Indiana coach Tom Allen gets a $100,000 bonus for every win after No. 5, meaning a 14-0 season would net him $900,000 in bonuses alone. And Kansas’ David Beaty nets $100,000 for every win over a Power Five team, period.

We're talking about practice music?

In at least one instance, the perks come in the form of power rather than money. Joe Moglia's contract at Coastal Carolina specifies that he will have "complete management over" the football program and related operations, including "signage in varsity football designated areas, sideline/visitor spectator passes, use of University's football field located at Brooks Stadium and music during football practices." Yes, even the practice music.

Reward for rivalry wins

How bad does Cal want to beat Stanford? Well, so bad that it's written specifically into first-year coach Justin Wilcox's contract. Lead the Golden Bears to a win over the Cardinal — including their upcoming matchup Nov. 18 — and Wilcox will receive a $25,000 bonus. Wins over UCLA, Southern California or Oregon, meanwhile, will earn him $10,000 apiece, as long as the team in question finishes with at least six regular-season victories.

Flying high

Even as coaching salaries climb, flight perks continue to be written into coaches' contracts. First-year Texas head coach Tom Herman, for example, receives 20 hours of flight time on a private jet per year. "Should an appropriate donor plane not be available for a time period that Coach needs personal flight time, University may use gift funds to purchase jet flight hours for use by Coach," his contract states. Fellow first-year coach Lincoln Riley of Oklahoma receives 25 hours of private airplane use per year.

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No. 1: Nick Saban, Alabama: $11,132,000. In May, Saban received a three-year contract extension that takes the deal through Jan. 31, 2025. The setup included a $4 million signing bonus and increased his basic annual pay to $7.125 million. He’s scheduled to make $7.525 million in 2019 and ’20, then $10.325 million in 2021. Jason Getz, USA TODAY Sports

No. 2: Dabo Swinney, Clemson: $8,526,800. The Tigers won the national title last season. In August, the school unveiled new pay terms: Swinney’s basic pay for this season jumped to $6 million from a scheduled $4.8 million, and he got a $1.5 million signing bonus, plus a commitment for a $1 million life insurance premium payment. Kim Klement, USA TODAY Sports

No. 3: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan: $7,004,000. Harbaugh’s pay includes $2 million as part of a complex loan/life insurance arrangement intended to be a form of deferred compensation. The other $5 million of his basic annual pay is scheduled to increase by $500,000 in January. Rick Osentoski, USA TODAY Sports

No. 4: Urban Meyer, Ohio State: $6,431,240. Meyer’s contract requires Ohio State to annually increase several elements of his pay by at least 6%. After last season, in which the Buckeyes appeared in a College Football Playoff semifinal, the school awarded him an 8% increase – or $428,240, instead of the scheduled $321,180. Bruce Thorson, USA TODAY Sports

No. 5: Rich Rodriguez, Arizona: $6,031,563. Rodriguez’s basic pay for this contract year is $2.875 million. But if he stays at Arizona through March 15, 2018, one payment designed as an incentive to keep him at the school, long-term, will become payable and another will vest to him. Combined, those payments would be worth more than $3.1 million. Russell Lansford, USA TODAY Sports

No. 6: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State: $5,700,000. Last December, after his name had been raised in connection with the job at LSU, Fisher got a contract extension that goes through the 2024 season and gave him a $450,000 raise. In 2010, his first season as Florida State’s head coach, he made $1.8 million. Rob Kinnan, USA TODAY Sports

No. 7: David Shaw, Stanford: $5,680,441. Because Stanford is a private school, Shaw’s total is the one reported on the school’s most recently available federal tax returns, which cover pay for the 2015 calendar year, including benefits and bonuses paid. It included the payout of $1.35 million in compensation that the school had reported as deferred on prior returns. Jennifer Buchanan, USA TODAY Sports

No. 8: Tom Herman, Texas: $5,486,316. Herman moved from Houston to Texas, which gave him $5.25 million for this season, plus a $236,316 relocation payment and coverage of the $2.5 million buyout he owed Houston. In 2014, Herman was making $550,000 as an assistant coach at Ohio State. Reese Strickland, USA TODAY Sports

No. 9: Gary Patterson, Texas Christian: $5,104,077. Because TCU is a private school, Patterson’s total is the one reported on the university’s most recently available federal tax returns, which cover pay for the 2015 calendar year, including benefits and bonuses paid. Patterson’s base pay was reported at under $4 million, his bonuses at just over $600,000. Raymond Carlin III, Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

No. 10: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M: $5,000,000. Sumlin’s pay from the school is scheduled to remain unchanged throughout the term of his contract, which runs through 2019.
Erich Schlegel, USA TODAY Sports

No. 12: James Franklin, Penn State: $4,600,000. After leading the Nittany Lions to last season’s Big Ten title, Franklin got a three-year contract extension worth $19.75 million. It didn’t change his basic pay for this season, and adds only $100,000 to the $4.7 million he’d been set to make in 2018. But in 2019, he’s now scheduled to make $5.65 million -- and the deal keeps rising. Rich Barnes, Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

No. 14: Dan Mullen, Mississippi State: $4,500,000. Mullen received a $300,000 raise from last season under his combination of money from a publicly available state contract and compensation from contract with the Bulldog Club, Inc., a private non-profit organization that declines to release the agreement. Matt Bush, USA TODAY Sports

No. 18: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State: $4,200,000. After last season, Gundy’s contract was extended for the first time since 2012. His deal now runs through 2021. His pay rose by $425,000 over last season’s; he is set for $125,000 annual increases in the future; and he can make $900,000 in bonuses annually – up from $550,000. Erich Schlegel, USA TODAY Sports

No. 19: Chris Petersen, Washington: $4,127,500. The Huskies won the Pac-12 title and made the College Football Playoff semifinals last season. Petersen’s reward was a three-year contract extension, and a $525,000 pay increase over last season’s total. In 2010, as Boise State’s coach, he made a little less than $1.5 million. Joe Nicholson, USA TODAY Sports

No. 20: Butch Jones, Tennessee: $4,110,000. Jones’ pay is unchanged from last season’s, when he received a $500,000 raise but no extension of a contract that is scheduled to run through Feb. 28, 2021. Randy Sartin, USA TODAY Sports